A Story For and About Communities

At NC State, I wear many hats in addition to being the Graduate Editor of Philanthropy Journal: English Composition teacher, doctoral student in digital media, community member, graduate student advocate, and as I enter into my comprehensive exams, researcher and subject-matter expert. In all of these roles, I am researching and theorizing better ways to think and do, a philosophy I take directly from my experience at PJ.

What has PJ taught me over the past 2 years, working closely with Sandy, Jack, and Haily, hearing the stories of nonprofits across the world, and constantly reflecting on the ways we can better serve the nonprofit sector? That all work – even the work of an academic – is about community, that all work is about the stories we tell one another. Behind every theory, there is story, a person or a group who feels something missing in the narrative. Each and every feature published at the Philanthropy Journal is about what story hasn’t yet been told, what narrative needs to be shifted towards better serving a community.

I entered into my doctoral program with one idea about my research, but PJ has shaped what my work has become: a story for and about communities. As we prepare for the academic year, I hope you’ll join me in donating to the Philanthropy Journal to help support my colleagues and fellow students who want to tell better stories, who want to make a better world.